The Veil
by SomeoneThatExists
Summary: It started with a thought, as most things often do.
1. Chapter 1

**I...should not be starting stories when I'm working on something else. Maybe I'll just make this a oneshot or something. Well, let's see what happens.**

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 _Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age._

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 **...**

It started with a thought, as most things often do.

But before it was a thought, it was nothing.

Not even a barest hint of an idea yet.

It was not there.

Not yet anyway.

 **...**

Once upon a time, there was a little girl.

She also started with a thought. A desire, a wish, from her parents' prayers. And on the third year of waiting, she was conceived. The only child of an eventually-loveless couple who had broken off their relationship after the woman was found pregnant with a child that didn't belong.

She was not expected.

She was not welcomed into the world.

She was shunned.

She was left to die alone in the dump.

Only strangers mourned the broken body of a child they never knew.

 **...**

It started with a thought.

I am lonely, decides a demoness and watches through the Veil as a child is welcomed to the world. The tired smile on the mother's face was something she did not understand.

What is it like? The demoness thinks to herself. What is it like to have a child? What is it about babes that make their mothers happy so?

The demoness wonders and wonders and decides to ask a friend, or as close to a friend she can find.

"It is the relief from the pain of labor, is it not?" asks her sleepy sloth friend.

The demoness wonders some more but disagrees. It is not relief, she thinks, and so she looks for another answer.

"It is the release of the burden." states a pride demon disdainfully. The demoness thinks on it but disagrees once more. She looks for another.

"It is the liberation from the grip of fear, fear of dying in childbirth." says a fear demon factually. The demoness shakes her head and looks for another answer.

Each demon she asks, however, have no better answer. So she asks a spirit of wisdom.

The spirit looked confused at the inquiry but answers, "You will not understand unless you experience it on your own."

"Explain it either way." the demoness demands but the spirit shakes his head ruefully.

"You will not understand still." And the spirit disappears from view.

The demoness frowns and thinks.

"Perhaps," she says to herself, "I will get my own and understand."

 **...**

What is the Veil?

The Veil is a metaphysical barrier that exists between the physical world and the Fade. Neither spirits nor mortal beings can easily pass physically through the Veil, but the consciousnesses of most mortal dreamers and all mages are a different matter, though it is only the mages who can arrive in the Fade consciously.

 **...**

The demoness takes a lost little girl who died too young under her wing.

It does not take long for her to understand, and her realization changes her very being.

She is no demoness anymore. She is a spirit of motherly love and the change is quick.

The child learns and grows under the spirit. They bond and grow closer and where the Fade was once a lonely wasteland, it was now home.

She finds the spirit of wisdom and smiles.

"I have found my purpose." she says. "You were right. I do not think I would have understood it too."

The spirit only smiles in return and disappears as soon as it appeared.

 **...**

It started with a thought.

I must survive my Harrowing, thinks the determined young mage.

I will kill all in my way.

 **...**

The spirits were in the wrong place, in the wrong time.

"Demons!" cries the inexperienced young mage. "You do not deserve to live!"

The bolt hits the unaware demoness-turned-spirit at the back.

The little girl runs.

And she is lost once more.

 **...**

The little girl wanders and keeps wandering, looking for the mother she left behind.

"Mama?" she calls. "Mama, are you here?"

She returns to where the mage last appeared.

He is different now. Older, more powerful.

And much more idiotic than he was before.

"You hurt mama!" was all the little girl said. Repeating it over and over again until the mage was swallowed whole by black fire and disappeared into ashes that scattered to the non-existent winds.

 **...**

It started with a thought.

The little girl stares at the Veil.

I will be the Veil, thinks the girl. And Mama will not be hurt anymore.

No mages will hurt others, the little girl thinks as she feels her black fire.

I will be the Veil and I will stop them.

 **...**

Time passes and the girl stands vigil.

Her black fire encompasses the Veil, hurting any who enter.

It is why mages do not dream.

They have nightmares instead.

 **...**

The Veil is sometimes torn.

The little girl that is not so little anymore does not mind.

It is the demons and spirits that make the tear. She can mend it.

But when it is the mages.

It hurt.

 **...**

The little girl is curious of the elf.

"You aren't a spirit." she blurts out.

The elf smiles and crouches, bringing his height closer to hers. "I am no spirit, but an elf, young one."

The little girl recognizes him. "You are often here." she says curiously. "Your magic is familiar."

"It was my magic that created the Veil child. The Veil which you are guarding so diligently." The elf says gently, sitting beside her in front of where the biggest tear was. "It is probably why you feel it familiar."

Then he must be very powerful, thinks the child. Perhaps he can mend the tear that appeared. The tear was recent, the child thinks, and it was the biggest that ever appeared.

The girl shakes her head sadly. "I cannot mend it." she points to the biggest tear. "I have mended the others but not that one. It is too big."

"The Breach is difficult to mend." The elf agrees. "Do not worry about it so. I will take care of it." And he pats her head much like how her mother did when she still existed.

"Will I see you again?" the girl asks when he makes to leave.

"Yes." he pauses. "If I may...I might call you into the physical realm." The elf says. "Is that alright with you?"

The little girl has never been where the mages are. "Yes." she agrees eventually.

The elf then leaves, but not without leaving his name.

Solas.

And the little girl returns to the Veil, still feeding her black fire to the remaining tiny tears.

Maybe, the girl thinks, Solas would like it if there were no tears left.

That sounded like a pretty thought.

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 **I'm not entirely sure of what I made but I'm putting it up because it seemed like a shame to let it sit in my laptop. Thoughts anyone?**


	2. Chapter 2

**I wasn't actually sure I would ever continue this but I liked it so here! Thanks for the reviews and faves and follows!**

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 _Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age._

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 _..._

A tear was closed.

The slightly big one close to the one Solas called the 'Breach'; it was stitched together crudely.

It feels of Solas' magic but...not.

The child blinks at it and senses Solas close by in the lingering mix of magic and Fade in the physical realm. She feels for his beacon of elf magic and feels his respond in slight surprise and _hello_ _howareyou?_ and a few other things she cannot yet comprehend.

She draws close to him as best she can without going through the barrier itself. _You closed it,_ She said. _Y_ _our magic but not you._

He does not answer her following stream of hows and whys. But he tugs at her curiously. _Would_ _you like to see?_

She glances consideringly back at the Veil. Then back at Solas who was still waiting patiently.

 _Okay._ She says and feels Solas' magic gently cocooning her and pulling her through the Veil and into a physical realm.

The child blinks and finds Solas crouched in front of her. She spares a glance at herself and sees the ground through her green-tinged form.

She turns her head and is immediately drawn to where the tear was.

She does not think anything of how Solas takes her hand in his magic coated one and walk her closer to where it was.

"You closed it." She looks up at the empty space of lingering Fade magic. She raises her hand and feels her black fire mend the tiny spaces between each stitch.

"Solas." A female elf with Solas' magic on her hand steps closer. Her face marks her as a slave. The taste of ice on her hand marks her as a mage. "What is that?"

"She," Solas corrects, turning to them, "Is a powerful, if young, spirit."

"A demon, you mean." Says the woman with the sun on her chest. Her hand hovers close to the hilt of the sword on her side. The child draws closer to Solas and grips the cloth covering his leg. Solas looks down at her and places a hand on her head. She doesn't notice.

She marvels at the coarseness of the cloth that she can feel through Solas' magic covering her.

"Easy there Seeker." Drawls the dwarf on the other side of the female elf slave. "If Chuckles says it's fine, it's fine."

The 'Seeker' rounds on the dwarf. "Do you think I would trust an apostate's claims so easily?" She demands. The dwarf raises his hands, placating.

The elf slave sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose tiredly.

"Your hand." They all look at her when she speaks. She blinks up at the elf slave. "It is not your magic."

The elf looks at her own hand and flexes her fingers, a small crackle of green making a brief appearance. Then the elf stares at her, puzzled. "How can you tell?"

Solas' magic hovers warningly over her. His hand grows a slight heavier on her head.

She does not understand what he is trying to say so she continues. "It is the same as the Veil's." And she cannot say anything else. Solas' magic keeps her in place.

The three in front of her visibly process this.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the thing separating us common people from our otherworldly counterparts?" Mused the dwarf.

The Seeker and elf slave looked disconcerted, the Seeker moreso.

"So what, you mean I have a piece of the Veil on my hand?" The look the elf slave directs to said hand should have already made it combust.

But then she blinks and disappears back to the Fade before she hears anymore of their discussion. She looks up at the newly closed tear, sealed by both the elf magic and her black fire.

The traces of Solas' magic feels ominous against her skin.

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"I'm sorry."

Solas looks at her with an expression she cannot read.

"I don't think I should have said that." She doesn't look up at him. "I only understood now. I'm sorry."

She waits...and wilts at the silence.

Until a hand is placed comfortingly atop her head. She peers up at him when he sighs.

Solas sits by her in front of the Veil. They watch in the distance as the Fade seeps ever so slowly into the physical realm through the Breach. The amassing bulk of demons at its base look almost impressive.

"Just don't tell them anything else." Solas finally says.

She smiles.

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 **I don't quite know where I'm going with this.**

 **And yes, I did take 8—or was it 9?—months to update this. Sorry. I just looked at this story again yesterday and found its continuation in the depths of my files.**


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